**Please click on the pic for a clearer view.For some reason they always look a little blurry on the blog page 😦 **

The challenge at Crafty Sentiments this week is Add A Sentiment.Drop on by to join in the fun and be in with the chance of winning a super surprise prize.Don’t forget to take at some fabulous DT inspiration while you’re there.

So I thought I’d grab the chance to get another Christmas card made.I’m determined,this year,not tobe finishing them and sending them on the last posting date!!So this little beauty,Hark the Angel Sing by Crafty Sentiments ,has helped me a little way to achieving my goal 🙂 She’s been coloured with Copic Sketch and Ciao Markers then fussy cut so that she’s positioned in front of the die cut wreath,with added Liquid Pearls for effect.I thought this would tie in nicely with the holly coronet on her head.This was also the thinking behind the punched border.The papers are some remnant Hot Off the Press Papers and the sentiment has been stamped directly onto the card base.Due to the many rises and changes in postal costs I try to come up with designs to minimise these charges but hopefully still present friends and family something worth displaying on their mantelshelf.

At Craft Your Passion this week the challenge is Christmas ABC (Anything But a Card).We have the fabulous Whimsy Stamps as our sponsors too.Head on over to check how to play and win.Don’t forget to take a look at the DT inspiration,they’ve done a wonderful job.

I decided to make an After Eight dispenser as a gift for my DS2’s teacher.For those who’ve not heard of them before they are wafer thin dark chocolates that have a gooey mint fondant centre.They were intended as after dinner mints but they’re so yummy I doubt anybody could wait that long!So back to the dispenser…I followed a tutorial at Splitcoast Stampers for a Tea Bag Dispenser Box as this worked out to be perfect for these too 🙂 All the base card is kraft and the papers are a magazine freebie from last year that I never got round to using.The cute stamp is Santa Emma by C C Designs.I bought her in a sale at least a couple of years ago and used her only once I think.She’s been coloured with Graph’It Markers.I was very lucky in a recent challenge on their blog and won some fabulous goodies – i.e. some pens including a Glitter Shake in Gold 😀 As I only have a fairly small collection of pens these were a very welcome addition:) It was quite an adventure creating the depth and blend I wanted to achieve but I’m quite please how she turned out.I used the Plum as the darker shade but found the Ruby (and only red I own) didn’t,as I suspected,blend too well so I hit upon the idea of using the Magenta.This gave a perfect blend but as this was too pink I went back over with the Ruby to bring the red back.I was impressed that,as unlike some other brands of pens,there was no spattering or seepage with the dark red/pink tones 🙂 The Powder worked beautifully as a highlighting colour.For the bluey/green parts a mix of Dark Cyan,Jasmine and Fresh mint were used.After colouring the buckle on her belt with regular Graph’It Markers I went over with the Glitter Shake Pen (shame I forgot to take a close up).With some experimentation it was quite rewarding that I could get the kind of results I was looking for with a limited amount of pens 🙂

For the trims on her clothing I opted for a White Sakura Souffle Pen.Normally on cards I would apply FLuffy Stuff or Flower Soft but I wasn’t sure how well it would stand up to the handling this may get.

Here’s a view of how I decorated the top :

And a close up of the tag I made to match.This will be attached once it’s been wrapped in cellophane :